MUMBAI: In a relief to older cooperative housing societies in Navi Mumbai, the Bombay High Court has ruled that Cidco cannot demand transfer charges from flat owners in societies whose land lease deeds were executed before February 8, 1990, if the original agreements did not provide for such charges.
The court held that where the lease deeds did not contain a condition requiring Cidco’s permission or payment of transfer charges, the corporation could not subsequently impose such a requirement on the societies. The ruling means Cidco cannot use a rule introduced in 1990 to impose a new financial obligation on societies whose leases were signed before the amendment came into force. However, the relief granted by the court is limited to two societies — Manmandir Cooperative Housing Society in Nerul and Surya Cooperative Housing Society in Vashi — and does not automatically extend to all 2,528 societies represented by the Navi Mumbai Cooperative Housing Federation. A division bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande delivered the judgement on September 29, while hearing a petition filed by the federation and the two housing societies.
As the lease deeds of Manmandir and Surya CHSs predated February 8, 1990, the court ruled that Cidco could not demand transfer charges from their members. Because their lease deed dates were not available on record, however, the bench declined to extend the same relief to the federation’s other 2,528 member societies. The applicability of the ruling to other societies will therefore depend on their individual lease deeds and the relevant terms.
